Baby signing: could it be for you?

The trend: Since Robert De Niro used baby signing in the Hollywood comedy movie Meet the Fockers (2004) the interest in using some form of baby signing with hearing babies seems to have taken-off! While at the time I thought baby signing looked as crazy as the strap-on breast in the same movie, now that I’m a mum I’ve joined many parents and researchers in coming to appreciate baby signing for the valuable parenting tool that it is (and that strap-on breast for Dad to feed baby ain’t looking half-bad either come to think of it!). Hollywood movies and jokes aside though, baby signing is a valuable concept because it respects the intelligence of babies and young children and acknowledges their ability to communicate before their speech is fully-developed.

Starting baby signing: Good first signs are those that relate to baby’s every day activities, eg. breastfeeds, meal times, bath time, bed time and nappy changing. For example some signs that relate to meal time are “eat”, “drink”, “milk”, “more” and “finished”. Introducing baby signs to your child’s day needn’t take a lot of time, there doesn’t need to be signing lessons, signing can be integrated into regular day-to-day activities, meal-times, bath time, story time and while singing nursery rhymes, the Tinytalk website has a free downloadable booklet of nursery rhymes to using signing with (visit www.tinytalk.com.au to request a copy). As signing may be used while singing nursery rhymes and while reading books to your child as part of discussing the pictures baby sign language can enhance early literacy skills.

Keep signing fun: Remember signing is a communication-enhancer, rather than a necessity, even though there are proven cognitive benefits from using baby signing, don’t let it be just one more thing to feel inadequate about - just have fun! There are no hard and fast rules about how long to sign for, do it for as long as you find it to be a useful communication tool, most parents find their children naturally become less dependent on communicating through signing as their speech develops.

Baby sign language resources available from Burnside Library’s Family Information Zone include:

Australian Baby Hands by Jackie Durnin (pictured)

Tinytalk DVD pack (includes booklet and chart)

Baby Signs: How to talk with your baby before your baby can talk by Linda Acredelo and Susan Goodwyn

Baby Signing 1-2-3: The Easy-to-Use Illustrated Guide for Every Stage and Every Age by Nancy Cadjan

To request these items visit Burnside Library's Online Catalogue.

To read more about Baby Sign Language - and share your thoughts and experiences on this topic - click into the comments section of this article.